<title>Sniper bullet detection by millimeter-wave radar</title>

Abstract

Law enforcement and military operations would clearly benefit from a capability to locate snipers by backtracking the sniper's bullet trajectory. Achieving sufficient backtracking accuracy for bullets is a demanding radar design requiring good measurement accuracy, high update rates, and detection of very low cross-section objects. In addition, reasonable cost is a driving requirement for law enforcement use. These divergent design requirements are addressed in an experimental millimeter-wave focal plane array radar that uses integrated millimeter-wave receiver technology. The radar is being built for DARPA by Technology Service Corporation, with assistance from M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory and QuinStar Technology.The key element in the radar is a 35 GHz focal-plane array receiver. The receive antenna lens focuses radar signals from a wide field of view onto an array of receivers, each receiver processing a separate element of the field of view. Receiver detections are then combined in a tracking processor. An FM-CW waveform is used to provide high average power, good range resolution, and stationary clutter rejection. TSC will be testing the Sniper Detection Radar using radar environment simulator technology developed at Lincoln Laboratory. The simulator will retransmit the received signal with the range delay, doppler shift, and ERP for various simulated bullet trajectories.

Investigations on signatures of projectiles for sniper detection applications

“…The aim of this paper is to deal with some essential facts to understand the main characteristics of radar reflectivity of projectiles as a necessary input for the development of a prototype radar system [1,2] operating at a frequency to be determined among X, Ka or W band. Based upon RCS simulations of projectiles, simple geometrical objects and RCS measurements on the same objects in an anechoic chamber, detection contours can be generated for a given system concept.…”